


It Isn't a Wedding Until....

by WhiskyTangoFoxtrot



Series: Up For Grabs [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 07:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4052335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiskyTangoFoxtrot/pseuds/WhiskyTangoFoxtrot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set post-endgame. On the day Josephine marries m!Trevelyan, Cullen finally tells Cassandra how he feels. Of course there's awkwardness and dorks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Isn't a Wedding Until....

Varric stood on the dais at the far end of Skyhold's Great Hall and announced, "It is my honor to present to you, the Inquisitor and his bride, the Lord Gareth and Lady Josephine Trevelyan!" The crowd cheered as he gestured grandly and moved off to the side of the steps. The happy couple turned to kiss, and the people of Skyhold and the visiting dignitaries erupted into a deafening roar while the rest of the wedding party shuffled down into the waiting throngs.

Divine Victoria smirked and sat back down on Trevelyan's Andrastian throne, brought out of storage for her use today. It was a lovely honor to marry Josephine to the Inquisitor, and after all they'd been through, they deserved some happiness. Her eyes drifted to Cassandra, another dear friend, as she strode up to greet her. She held up her right hand, and Cassandra bowed and kissed her knuckles. "Most Holy." Leliana snorted. "Seeker Pentaghast. Your gown is quite fetching today. That color is perfect for you."

The Seeker flushed a little at the unexpected compliment. She did feel something she didn't often. She actually felt _pretty._ The gown was a soft shade of gold, with gauzy layered skirts and beautiful embroidery on the tightly laced bodice. It pushed her up just so, so that when she looked in a mirror she thought she might pop out if she bent over too far. Matching lace sleeves covered her arms, and Leliana moved to touch it. "This is lovely. Is it Elvish work?"

Before Cassandra could answer that she had no idea, Varric was standing off to her right and down one step, in reverence for the Divine, and clapping his hands. "Let there be music, and dancing, and drinking! Let us celebrate in both courtyards! On behalf of the happy couple, you are welcome to enjoy!" Another, more subdued cheer followed, and the crowd began to filter out down the stairs. The musicians struck up a loud, happy tune from their place under the trees next to the Tavern. Divine Victoria stood, and flicked her wrist. Two retainers appeared, and began to escort her to the Inquisitor and Josephine's chambers. Cassandra bowed again as she disappeared up the stairs. No doubt she would turn up in a few hours, masked and in some scandalous dress. If the clerics only knew what the woman was truly capable of, they might not have chosen her Divine.

When she looked down into the crowd she groaned. People still squashed together, trying to wish Gareth and Josephine well, and Josie beamed and spoke graciously to each and every one. It might take hours before the bride herself could enjoy the day. She observed Varric, waiting in line with his arm around Hawke, whispering in her ear while she grinned devilishly. Cassandra rolled her eyes and started for the door to the gardens. Maybe she could get out to the courtyard without getting crushed or having a wardrobe malfunction. It was not to be, as Gareth held up his hands and began to speak, and the crowd swelled out, and she was pushed up against the wall by a figure in a groomsman's red-and-gold livery. He braced his hands on either side of her, creating a sort of cage where the crowd could not push her but so close she could not move.

She looked up into his face.

\---

Cullen had initially objected to standing up in the Inquisitor's wedding, citing his objection to standing up in a wedding, until the Seeker herself came to him grousing that if she had to get all dressed up, and stand in front of people for no reason, so did he. It was hard to fault her logic, even though she had the honor of being Josephine's first maid. It crossed his mind that perhaps Josephine had sent her, knowing what she would say, and how he would react to her words.

And so it was that he stood on the top of the dais, next to Varric, as Victoria gave the ceremony, singing along with the Chant, with what any man would call an excellent view down the Seeker's dress. It made him feel like a lecher but for some reason his eyes would not rest anywhere else. So he tried to pay attention to Leliana, who met his eyes and fixed him with the tiniest smirk, which he met with a virulent blush and a blatant look at her chest, too, for good measure, just to be an ass.

Leliana quirked an eyebrow at him, and said, "Husband, and Wife." The crowd erupted and he led Sera, Dorian, and Bull down the steps and began to work his way to the edge of the hall.

That was how he found himself protecting Cassandra from the push of bodies. He looked down at her. "Hello," was all he could muster, because his eyes were drawn again to the soft roundness piling out of her top. His mouth was dry, and it occurred to him that he should not be looking at her this way. His eyes flicked up to hers but it was too late. She'd seen him looking, and when he met her eyes, she looked shocked.

"Cullen." She said carefully. "What, exactly, are you doing?"

"I am so sorry, Cassandra." Before he could speak again, the crowd swelled out, and pushed him into her. His boot stuck on the hem of her dress, and the bodice dragged down, revealing the top curves of her breasts. Her yelp was stifled by the crowd, and she reached down to pull it back into place, glaring at him. Without another word, she slipped out from under his arms and fled down the stone stairs into the courtyard.

\---

A bit of time went by, and Cassandra hadn't seen Cullen. She supposed he'd fled in mortification. It was certainly what she had done. But after her first glass of wine, she found herself in the lower courtyard, holding a flagon of the deliciously bitter Dwarven Black Varric and Hawke had introduced her to, and sitting across from the pair, swapping stories with Hawke about Varric falling on his face ("And/or ass!"The Champion decided initially) in battle. Cassandra's sides hurt from laughing so hard, both from the stories and the dwarf's annoyed sidelong commentary. She was glad she and Varric had managed to become friends, though it was mostly due to Hawke staying with the Inquisition after Adamant. The woman was an asset; a deft politician and a fierce warrior, and had become a treasured friend and sparring partner along the way. Hawke was telling the time Varric got so drunk he left the house without his breeches, when the musicians under the archway began to play an upbeat Orlesian dancing tune. Hawke jumped to her feet, and held out a hand. Varric stood to join her, but Hawke laughed and shook her head. "My lady Seeker, may I have this dance?"

"It has been a long time since I danced, Ser Hawke." Cassandra replied warily. "I do not remember the steps."

"It's easy," Varric said. "Hawke will show you. Go on, have some fun."

Cassandra looked down at her beautiful dress, then up at the brilliant orange sunset over the mountaintops. Then she took Hawke's hand.

The dance was extremely easy, and she had the basics down after the first refrain. The music changed keys, and Cassandra found herself being twirled, by Hawke, into the waiting arms of Dorian, who grinned happily at her. "Lady Cassandra, you're dancing!"

She smiled widely at him and said, "I am? How did I get here?"

His laugh deepened. "Dancing and joking? Aren't you all charm?"

She snorted. "I am certainly not."

Dorian passed her on to her next partner with a flourish and a quick peck on the cheek. She looked up and realized she was pulled flush to Cullen, who was looking down at her with a truly devastating smirk on his face. "Found you."

"I was not aware I was hiding," she said. But she was extremely aware of his wide warm hand on her hip, and his fingers beginning to lace between hers. 

"I wanted to apologize for... Well, before." His cheeks flushed but he continued. "Forgive me?" "For nothing. A simple accident."

His voice got low as the music crescendoed, and she noticed he was not swapping her off to another partner. If anything, he was pulling her closer. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "No. During the ceremony. I apologize for looking down your dress." Her breath caught and she tried to pull away to look at him, but despite months off the field, he was still powerful as a lion and she was (not unpleasantly) stuck, his arm a vise around her waist. "For the entire ceremony, Cassandra. You are beautiful, all the time, but tonight, breathtaking. I find myself wondering why I have never mentioned it before? Everything we've been through side by side, and you were always...strong. Unwavering. It is one of the things I admire most about you."

"I don't understand," she whispered.

The song ended, and he released her and stepped away. "Then let me know when you do," he said with another one of those stomach-dropping smirks. He turned to Dorian as the next song started and held out his hand. The mage pretended to swoon, and both men laughed and danced away.

She made her way back to the table and sat with a thump, then picked up her mug and downed it in one go. Varric patted her arm to get her attention, and asked, "What was that all about with Curly?"

"I do not know. He said -- he said --" Cassandra was speechless.

"Well, well. Curly's into you. About time he said something. Listen, I'll make this quick because if Hawke hears this half of Thedas will know by dawn. He's been looking at you differently since the final battle with Corypheus. You just haven't noticed because you've been so busy with the training rotation. Seeker, if anyone deserves a shot at happiness it's you two. You're telling me, you've never thought about it?" The dwarf asked.

"Not until just now." She admitted that it had been lovely being pressed against him (twice in as many hours) and that his hand on her side made something warm in her spine. And his smile. She found herself flushing, and looked at Varric, who was grinning knowingly over at her. The barrels behind him were covered in half-full bottles of wine and spirits, and he picked up one that said _Ritewine, Adamant, Warden-Constable Ritts, 9:39._ He handed it to the Seeker and said, "Go get him, Cassandra."

She smiled gratefully and got up and disappeared into the crowd, carrying her hem and the bottle in her hand. Varric watched her go and then grabbed another bottle of Ritewine from the pile as Hawke sat down next to him, holding two more beers. "Where's the Seeker off to, love?" She drawled, leaning into his shoulder. 

"I don't think even she knows." He replied. Then she took the pins out of her long black hair and shook it out. Varric grunted appreciatively and ran a finger across the top of her dress, identical to Cassandra's, and continued, "You know, Emily, there's an old saying in my family that it's not a wedding until someone bangs a bridesmaid."

"Is that right?" She tilted her head up and brushed her lips across his jaw. "Then let's get out of here."

\---

Cullen wove through the crowd with grace after passing Dorian off and bowing out of the dance. He went up the stairs, and saw Cassandra put down a drink in one gulp. He smiled a little smugly and let himself get lost, finally finding a spot under a tree, near her training dummies, next to the door to the battlements. Their eyes met as she crested the stairs, across the party, music and revelry forgotten. He grinned at her a little, then turned and went into the tower.

He had reached the door at the top when she pulled open the one below, and he went through, and through the next tower to his office. He had his doublet off and the candles lit when there were three sharp raps on the door.

It opened and there she was, still in that lovely golden dress, a little flushed from chasing him, holding a bottle of something and the side of the door. She turned to shut it behind her, and turned the lock. "Did you mean it?"

"Every word." He looked at her, and she noticed the soft golden flecks in his eyes. "But it has been a long time since I've wanted anyone in my life. I didn't realize that it was you until a few weeks ago. I'm not sure how to do this."

"Neither am I." She admitted, and crossed the room to set the bottle on the desk. It felt so slow, like she was moving through honey, but she poured the amber liquor into the two glasses on the desk me handed him one, turning to rest against the edge. She took a sip and it burned pleasantly down her throat. "Though you had some degree of certainty down in the yards."

"I'd been thinking about what I would say to you since I saw you in this." He set down his glass, untasted, and moved to stand in front of her. His hand smoothed down her side, and back up, tilting her chin so he could look in her eyes. "You know, you were the last person to come into the gates after the battle at the Temple. I didn't see you, and all I could think was, I never got to tell her. I didn't realize it until that moment...and then you rode in, covered in blood and dirt and sweat and you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."

He let go of her chin and she looked away from the intensity of his gaze for a moment, then back into his eyes. She realized then that Cullen was exactly who she wanted. They'd helped each other through the entire last year. She'd stayed up with him when the lyrium withdrawals got too bad for him to sleep. He'd held her while she cried, after Caer Oswin. What they had already given to each other was more than simple friendship, and his face shifted he watched realization dawn in her eyes.

"Never got to tell me what?" She asked him. Her eyes were deep dark pools a man could lose himself in, and he rested his hands on the top of the desk on either side of her hips. 

Their breath mingled, and he brushed a soft kiss across her lips. "This."

A sigh escaped her, and her lips parted beneath his. His hands were on her hips, pulling her closer, and she whimpered against him, pushing the heels of her hands against his shoulders. His tongue grazed hers, and her hips involuntarily jerked against his, which dragged a desperate moan from him. She hesitated to pull away, but..."Cullen."

His mouth moved from Cassandra's jaw to her neck, and her hands dropped to his. "If this happens, there is no going back." Her fingers laced through Cullen's on the desk. "I would understand if you wished to stop."

Cullen tightened his fingers around hers. "No. Please stay."

She smiled up at him, and said, "It has been a very long time."

"I can say the same."

\---

The sun broke over the Frostbacks, and a chilly breeze blew over Skyhold. Cassandra shivered, and snuggled further under the thick soft sheets. The bed beneath her was stuffed with sweet grass, and it smelled like-

There was a bed beneath her, she realized. A bed, a hole in the ceiling, Fereldan knit sheets. A familiar-looking bearskin on the floor. Cullen's room. She rolled over, and there he was. The man was even beautiful when he was asleep. A soft snore escaped him, and he rolled over and slid an arm over her waist, and tugged her closer to him. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. It turned out there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fun one, and there's not enough Cass/Cullen out there. I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
